Strategies for Small Charity Leaders

Nori Knight
August 1, 2024

Guest blog post by David Page

David is a Director of Triceratops Training who offer affirming, accessible and affordable support for small charitable organisations. He has been around small charities his whole life as a service user, volunteer, staff member, leader and now as a consultant and trainer. He too struggles to juggle.

It is hard, isn’t it? So many balls in the air, and while it is definitely is a skill we need to master, it is not in the way we imagined as children.

As fundraisers we need to juggle, juggle so many relationships and responsibilities in copious contexts – feeling like we are being judged in all of them.

Consider too those working in smaller organisations, those who in addition to juggling the responsibilities of solo-fundraising, also have the liabilities of service delivery, leadership, communications, volunteer management and more tossed into the mix.

However, let’s not compare the struggles of others to our own, it is hard for all of us, isn’t it? No wonder burnout too often rears its head and the balls fall to the floor, cascading our issues to those who have to pick them up.

Right, that is enough bad news.

We are a people of action and not ones for wallowing in the mire.

I have the joy of connecting with, and hopefully helping, a plethora of diverse charities who appreciate a friendly hand to help guide them.

Recently a charity has approached me with succession planning on their mind. Why? Because the CEO knows that they are teetering under the pressure, and two huge unavoidable events are on the horizon. The Chair of the Board’s term is coming to an end, always a pressured time for leadership, but even greater is the fact that a close family member has been given a terminal diagnosis, and it is recognised that they, the CEO, will need to take extended leave to process the unavoidable grief.

This is astounding leadership, in having the foresight, self-awareness and humility in saying ‘we need help’, as they juggle all the relentless work responsibilities, but also navigate the deep reality of a personal life too.

And asking for that help proactively, before it is too late, it hugely admirable.

Help comes in a formal way, through professional external support as I offer, and through the upskilling staff and volunteers to share the load. But importantly, it also comes with peer support, finding those near you who are in similar situations.

Formal and informal, these avenues all offer wonderful wins, which is why our sessions at Triceratops Training try to cover both professional and peer bases with an affirming and understanding tone, one which I think we all need when we are facing up to huge, relentless challenges.

A burden shared is a burden halved – or so we are told.

So, my advice is to reach out, connect, extend your supportive network – it is what we all need if we are to thrive, no matter how we are wired.

You see, there are over 160,000 active charities around the UK with an income of under £1m. These charities are packed with people juggling just like you, people struggling just like you, people winning just like you, even if at times it does not feel that way.

So what are the next steps?

I am working on a couple of new communities especially for smaller organisations, neither of which are ready to be public yet, but both of which aim to make it easier for you to get the peer and professional support you need. Visit Triceratopstraining.co.uk, give us your email address and we will keep you updated.

In the meantime, communities already exist for you to tap into. Fundraising Everywhere is fantastic, and your local CVS or VSO are where I would start for that local connection (and maybe coffee and cake too).

It may also help to remember this from the irresistibly quotable author L.R.Knost “Taking care of yourself does not mean me first, it means me too”. So, take care of yourself by finding others who can, as you help take care of others.

Voice Your Thoughts 🗣️

Our platform is open to anyone and everyone in the sector that has an opinion, idea, or resource they would like to share to help make our sector better. If you would like write and share something, pop an email over to nori@fundraisingeverywhere.com and we will support you every step of the way to share your voice.